LETTER OF HIS EMINENCE
CARDINAL WALTER KASPER
TO HIS GRACE DR ROWAN WILLIAMS
ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

To His Grace
the Most Reverend and Right Honourable
Dr Rowan Williams
Archbishop of Canterbury

Your Grace,

I greatly appreciate your letter of October 18th, the very day in
which the Windsor Report was made public, inviting my informal reaction
to the Report’s contents.

I am grateful for the ecumenical way in which the Anglican Communion has
proceeded in the preparation of the Report, and in particular, for the
invitation last December to join you in establishing an ad hoc sub-committee of
IARCCUM to reflect on how the Agreed Statements of ARCIC over the past
thirty-five years could contribute to the current Anglican discernment process. The significant ecumenical concern which has been structured into the process by
which the Windsor Report will be studied and reflected upon is, for us, a
sign of trust and friendship and an encouragement to continue our relations and
our dialogue.

My first and overarching comment is that the Windsor Report proceeds in a
direction which for the most part I find helpful. I welcome the ecclesiological
approach by which the Report seeks to address and resolve the problems which
confront the Anglican Communion. Consistent with the ARCIC documents - in
particular, “Church as Communion” (1991) - and the IARCCUM ecclesiology
sub-committee’s reflections, the Windsor Report takes as its point of
departure and builds upon the foundations of an ecclesiology of communion (koinonia).
Notwithstanding the substantial ecclesiological issues still dividing us which
will continue to need our attention, this approach is fundamentally in line with
the communion ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council.

The consequences which the Report draws from this ecclesiological base are also
constructive, especially the interpretation of provincial autonomy in terms of
interdependence, thus “subject to limits generated by the commitments of
communion” (n. 79). Related to this is the Report’s thrust towards
strengthening the supra-provincial authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury
(nn.109-110) and the proposal of an Anglican Covenant which would “make explicit
and forceful the loyalty and bonds of affection which govern the relationships
between the churches of the Communion” (n.118). All these consequences are in
the line with the general thrust of ARCIC’s statements. As expressed in “The
Gift of Authority” (1999), maintaining and strengthening the koinonia and
a commitment to interdependence are constitutive aspects of the Church and vital
for its unity.

From this Pontifical Council’s perspective, the core recommendations of the
Report would have a positive ecumenical impact, and we pray that these
suggestions and proposals will be received and implemented. In a spirit of
ecumenical partnership and friendship, we are ready to support this process in
whatever ways are appropriate and requested.

Though we are fundamentally encouraged by the Windsor Report, and note
that its recommendations reflect the major insights of our common ecumenical
documents, there are two points also found in the ARCIC texts which we hope can
be more clearly articulated and directly addressed in the ongoing reception and
implementation of the Windsor Report.

The first point concerns the text’s ecclesiological approach itself. While the
Report stresses that Anglican provinces have a responsibility towards each other
and towards the maintenance of communion, a communion rooted in the Scriptures,
considerably little attention is given to the importance of being in communion
with the faith of the Church through the ages. In addressing the exercise of
authority in the Church, “The Gift of Authority” speaks not only of the
necessity of a synchronic communion of churches but also of a diachronic
consensus; in fundamental matters of faith and discipline, the decisions of
a local or regional church must not only foster communion in the present
context, but must also be in agreement with the Church of the past, and in a
particular way, with the apostolic Church as witnessed in the Scriptures, the
early councils and the patristic tradition. While the Windsor Report
stresses the catholicity of the Church, we believe that in the discussion that
will follow, it might be helpful for the Anglican Communion to place more stress
on the Church’s apostolicity. This aspect also has important ecumenical
ramifications, since we share a common tradition of one and a half millennia.
This common patrimony - what Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey called
our ‘ancient common traditions’ - is worth being appealed to and preserved.

The second area we would hope to see more directly addressed in discussions of
the Report and its implementation concern the moral questions at the heart of
the current controversy. The Report stresses that it was not its mandate to
deal with disputed questions concerning homosexuality. We have noted that the
problematic character of decisions taken in the Episcopal Church of the United
States and the Anglican Church of Canada is addressed from an ecclesiological
perspective but not a moral one. While the Windsor Report calls for a
moratorium on same-sex blessings and episcopal appointments of those in same-sex
relationships, this in itself is open to different interpretations. We would
ask whether the traditional Christian understanding of marriage and human
sexuality doesn’t need to be reasserted more clearly. As you know, the position
of the Catholic Church in this matter, as expressed in the Catechism of the
Catholic Church (nn. 2357-59), is clear, and for us, remains binding. We
believe that on these matters, we appeal to a shared apostolic patrimony which
includes the Scriptures, but also includes a common tradition - grounded in a
common interpretation of the Bible - of over 1900 years. In light of this
patrimony, we ask whether there might be occasion to affirm the vision of human
sexuality which was set forth in the ARCIC document “Life in Christ” (1994)
(n.b. nn. 55-58, 87), in which we began to articulate together that shared
patrimony. From a practical and pastoral perspective these moral questions are
laden with strong emotional resonances and are potentially divisive, and
therefore are of special importance for Christian unity and ecumenical
relations.

In conclusion, the Windsor Report has important ecumenical implications
insofar as it would provide for a greater coherence within Anglicanism, allowing
an enhancement of our understanding of the Anglican Communion precisely as a
communion. For the continuation of our ecumenical dialogue, it is important for
us to have a clear understanding of who our partner is. The text stands in line
with our ARCIC documents, though there are other elements of ARCIC’s work which
we believe deserve further attention. Its recommendations address two
underlying questions of broad ecumenical significance: the relationship between
the universal Church and the local church; and a question which is becoming
increasingly acute, namely, the tension between the Gospel, as reflected in the
apostolic witness, and the approaches and trends of our post-modern societies.
Both questions are faced by all Churches; though in different ways, we are
confronted by many of the same problems and the same challenges. Therefore we
should seek to undertake to address these issues in dialogue, so that we can
give witness together to a world which has a pressing need for the common
witness of the Church.

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Saviour, I assure you of my prayers
for you and for all the members of the Anglican Communion. On behalf of all of
us at the Pontifical Council, I wish you, your family and the Lambeth Palace
staff the peace which Christ alone can give as you ponder the mystery of his
Incarnation.